Some Hearts Are Ghosts
by coldqueen
Summary: Random drabbles set at the SPR, mainly Mai and Lin focused. Drabble one; she doesn't understand what she's doing wrong, why this isn't working for them?
1. Feeling You, Feeling Me

**Title:** Some Hearts Are Ghosts (Settling Down In Dark Waters)

**Genre: **Anime

**Series: **Ghost Hunt

**Characters: **Mai Taniyama, Lin Koujo  
**Spoilers: **N/A

**Rating: **T

**Summary: **Random (unconnected) drabbles set in the world of SPR.

**Disclaimer: **Ain't mine.

**Author's Note:** I'm blaming a friend for the fact that I've got a yen to write for this couple again. Just drabbles for now, but who knows what the future brings? (Not me.)

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_Drabble One: "Feeling You, Feeling Me" Alicia Keys_

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The first three weeks they slept in the same bed neither of them received enough rest. Monk made jokes about the dark circles under her eyes (never anywhere Lin could hear) but the explanation behind their mutual state of unrest had nothing to do with their sexual activities, which were perfectly fine (if multiple orgasms and accidental scratches on his back could be considered fine), and everything to do with the simple intimacy that came with occupying the same space. Mai hadn't lived with another person since her mother had passed, and Lin had last lived with Naru and even that had been years before. He'd never lived with a woman he'd been involved with, and he was her first for everything, including cohabitation.

Ayako counseled her to give it time and since Mai was too embarrassed to talk candidly about it with Lin that's exactly what she did.

Two nights after they closed a case involving the haunting of a small town ballet school Mai stirred awake and blinked blearily into the dark, unsettling dreams of dancing girls and sinister mirror images blurring and fading as her conscious thoughts overwhelmed them. It wasn't one of her significant visions, more like the vestiges of emotions from the case lingering and corrupting her usually pleasant dreams, but it wasn't the first time she'd woken in the dark of Lin's (their) apartment and felt a small pang of longing for her small studio apartment on the north side of Tokyo. If she'd been there and had a bad dream she knew exactly what she would've done. She would have risen from bed, made herself a cup of tea, and used the calming effect of soft music to relax herself, but that was there and now she stayed with Koujo and she found herself unsure of exactly what to do. It had been her dilemma for the past few weeks, trying to figure out which of her home habits were compatible with Lin's, finding compromises that would allow their relationship to continue to flourish.

Mai glanced over at Lin and observed his slumbering form; he was sprawled out on his stomach, easily taking up three-fourths of the bed yet somehow managing not to touch her. His hand twitched in sleep where it rested on her pillow and she shifted just an inch closer so that she could feel his knuckles grazing her cheekbone. She fought the urge to wake him, knowing that this was the deepest he'd slept in weeks, though it was due in most part to the tremendous use of his psychic abilities to solve the case that he was still recovering from. Neither of them were particularly affectionate outside of sex, and while they'd been dating he'd never stayed the whole night, preferring to return to his apartment when their lusts had been sufficiently sated. She hadn't minded his decision, she knew him well enough to know that despite their intimacy he wouldn't find it appropriate to stay, not until he'd made his intentions very clear in regards to their future.

Mai smiled as she remembered the night he'd asked her to move in with him, how smooth his words had been but his hand clenched tightly on top of the tablecloth betraying his nerves. She hadn't even thought about it before saying yes; it'd been the most instinctive and easiest decision she'd ever made.

Then Mai knew, the answer that had been in front of her the past few weeks, hidden under her self-doubt and nerves. Nothing between her and Lin had ever been difficult, they'd never stumbled over the next step in their relationship, never faltered, so why was this suddenly so hard when it didn't have to be? Mai nodded her head minutely as she resolved herself to stop second guessing everything and to find her courage again.

Mai slid closer to Lin under the sheets, easily shifting so that their legs entwined and her cheek rested on his bare back. He was smooth and warm under her, his body lean but yielding. She ran her fingers lightly over his bicep, smiling into the valley of pale skin that held his strong backbone before settling down and letting the rise and fall of his breathing lull her back to rest. Sleep came easily to her then, though she'd been so preoccupied with her thoughts she hadn't noticed that Lin too had awoken shortly after she. He permitted a small smile to lift his lips as Mai finally found a place in his bed that she could be comfortable with before forcing his own body to relax once more. He'd never doubted that they'd fit as perfectly together here as they did everywhere else.

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Review, please.


	2. Let's Forget All The Things That We Say

**Title: **Let's Forget All The Things That We Say

**Genre: **Anime

**Series: **Ghost Hunt

**Characters: **Mai Taniyama, Lin Koujo

**Spoilers: **N/A

**Rating: **PG

**Summary: **Things never turn out quite how you expect, but she wouldn't trade this life for any other. (Set approximately ten years in the future from the end of the anime.)

**Disclaimer: **Isn't mine.

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The soft knock on the frame of his office door at this time of night could only be one person but Lin knew better than to call out permission for her to enter. Instead he pushed himself away from the desk silently and tread his way to the door cautiously, focusing his shiki on the small sleeping form on his leather couch and his own eyes on the shut door. The turning of the knob brought a soft creak that had his back stiffening but he gently pulled the door inward anyways.

"Lin, have you seen Kammi? I could've sworn she was napping in the sitting area and I went to make Naru tea and when I returned-" Mai's rambling question fell silent at his gesture and her look of slight panic slid into a soft love as she observed the sleeping girl on Lin's couch. "I'm sorry, Lin. I didn't realize she'd sneaked in here. I hope she didn't bother you."

"She didn't disturb me. She asked for a story and fell asleep after a few minutes," Lin replied, stepping back and to the side to allow Mai entrance into his office, watching as she stepped timidly closer to her daughter.

"You told her a story?" Mai asked, shifting her waist-length hair over her shoulder to smile at him.

"I verbally dictated the case file I was typing up."

"I'm surprised it took her more than a minute to fall asleep," she teased, turning back to her daughter and brushing the dark hair from her cherubic cheek. Lin watched the gesture with a small twinge in his heart, not surprised that Mai was such a good mother, more surprised that he was envious. "I almost hate to wake her, but her father will be by any minute to pick her up."

"How are things progressing?" Lin asked as he returned to his position behind his computer, his fingers returning to their rhythmic tapping of the keys but his eyes shifting up to observe Mai's expression as she responded.

"The divorce will be final next week, but not having her with me every night is harder than I thought it would be. He's her father and we agreed to share custody, but the actual sharing part hurts."

Lin gestured that she should take a seat in front of the desk, but Mai chose to instead perch herself on the edge of the desk and read his work over his shoulder as he typed. "Amon hasn't been making things difficult for you?"

Mai grinned at him, her voice quiet as she asked, "If he was, would you beat him up for me?"

"I could have my shiki make him very uncomfortable," Lin asserted, not returning her smile with his lips but letting his mirth brighten his eyes.

"No, he hasn't made things difficult. Things are very...amicable. We're keeping things friendly for Kammi, we don't want this to affect her negatively," Mai explained, shrugging softly. "One of the good things about her staying with him half the week is that I can go out on jobs with the team again. It'll be good for me to put my degree to practical use instead of staying here in the office all the time."

"Kammi seems to be adjusting well," Lin noted, "and I know that we have all missed your particular brand of insight in our cases."

"She likes you, you know. Calls you 'Uncle Koujo'," Mai pointed out, restraining the soft laugh that curled her lips even as Lin glared at her. "I think Ayako taught her that."

"I'm not surprised," Lin swore, pausing in his typing to stretch his fingers and shift in his seat. Mai smiled at him softly, and he arched a brow at the way she was looking at him. "What?"

"Why don't you have children, Lin? You're good with them."

"I am not in a relationship, Mai, that generally removes the option of children for the time being."

"You could easily be in a relationship. I've seen the way women look at you," Mai declared, sliding closer to flick the long swoop of dark hair teasingly so that it swayed against his cheek. "They see those deep drown eyes, the high cheekbones, the dreamy hair, and just fall at your feet."

Lin hesitated, his brow furrowing as he stared at her. "High cheekbones?"

"You're prettier than I am," Mai gleefully informed him, sliding off the desk and shrugging. "I got over it years ago."

"I don't agree," Lin argued, sitting back and allowing himself a slow, thorough study of Mai's personage, starting with the elegant lines of her legs where they stretched out from her pencil skirt and ending with the pretty blush that tinted her cheeks when she caught him looking. If Lin had been more suave with his charms he'd have smiled at her, perhaps even winked his eye, and turned that soft blush into a deep rose, but he wasn't the flirtatious type so he let the moment slide.

A knock echoed through the office and reached their eyes and Mai instinctively moved to answer it. "That must be Amon," she announced quietly, her body tensing as she paused and turned back to him. "Do you think you could carry Kammi for me? I need to grab her bag from my desk and let him in."

Lin nodded and waited until Mai had moved out of sight into the dimly lit hallway before rounding his desk and kneeling beside the couch. Kammi was a miniature version of her mother, the only difference being the darker coloring that she received from her father. Lin gently shifted her towards him, easily lifting her into his long arms and waiting until she'd settled down against his shoulder before standing. He could feel her eyelashes shifting against his neck as he walked, her eyes blinking slowly as sleep begrudgingly released her.

"Unc-a Koo-jo?"

"Yes?"

"You think I pretty too?"

Kammi apparently had not been as asleep as she'd seemed. Lin shifted so that he could see the child's face, smiling slightly as he nodded. "You're gorgeous, Kammi. Just like your mother."

She nodded, and tilted her head back, pursing her lips. "Kiss good night?"

He couldn't resist, not when her big eyes looked at him so lovingly and without question. When Kammi received her kiss she tucked herself back into his neck, and Lin fought the knot in his chest at the sensation. She felt small and vulnerable, but the fact that she was so clearly comfortable with him, so assured of her safety in his arms that she had already almost slipped back into sleep, shook Lin to his core. He didn't know why he felt this way, so covetous of the child's affection and unsettled by how he yearned for it. He'd have to think on the matter longer, diagnose the variables so that his emotional response wouldn't catch him off guard next time.

He turned the corner of the hallway and stopped beside Mai, who'd been talking quietly with the man that had just arrived. Lin nodded in greeting, before moving to transfer the man's daughter to his arms. Kammi yawned and stretched as she moved from one man to the other, her eyes opening and closing several times before focusing on her father's face. "Daddy, Unc-a Koo-jo said I and mama is gor-chus."

"Mama and I," Amon correctly instinctively, arching a brow at Mai as she gaped at Kammi's words before shaking her head slightly and with mild incredulity. "And I agree. Did you have fun at Mama's work today?"

She nodded and spent several minutes rambling on in her only half-intelligible way about the things she'd done that day. When she'd wound herself down, her arms clutching her father's neck loosely and her head growing heavier with each passing minute until it rested fully on his shoulder, she looked at her mother with the same loving look she'd sent to Lin in the hallway. "Good night kiss, Mama?"

Mai honored the request, and Lin watched silently as she ran her hand gently through Kammi's hair before stepping back to watch as Amon and Kammi left. They stood silently for several seconds before unanimously retreating back to his office. Lin reclaimed his seat behind the desk and Mai sank into his couch, not looking at him as her hand passed over the warm leather where her daughter had curled up in rest. "I miss her already," Mai confessed, her frown pronounced as she finally shifted her eyes over to him.

Lin didn't reply immediately, instead finishing up the words his fingers typed out automatically before saving and shutting down his computer. "That's to be expected, but you need not wallow. Grab your coat, I'll take you to dinner before I take you home."

Mai's frown shifted, not quite as pronounced but not quite a smile. "Is this a pity date, Lin?"

"I don't do pity dates with gorgeous women," Lin denied, shrugging into his coat before gesturing for her to precede him into the outer office. He didn't need even the dim light of the hallway to know she was blushing again.

"You don't have to take me out, I can just go home," Mai explained, reaching for her jacket and struggling with the fabric before allowing him to assist her.

Lin waited until the coat was snug on her shoulders before leaning in and speaking softly, his breath warm on her ear as he did so, "I want to."

Mai waited until he stood beside her before slipping her arm around his and letting him lead her to the door. "Maybe this isn't a good idea."

He shrugged before going through the motions of locking the office up behind them. Mai moved to the elevator and pressed the down button, stepping inside and holding the door open until he could join her. They stepped inside, the doors shut, and then Lin stepped closer. Mai's back pressed to the wall of the elevator, the soft vibration of it's movement tingling down her body, her neck delicately arched as she stared up at Lin, waiting for him to make a move, anything to indicate the thoughts forming behind his unfathomable eyes. His long fingers were warm as they cupped her face, angling closer. "I think it's a very good idea," Lin decided, closing the distance between them without hesitation and kissing her.

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